GA581 Impact and Shock Metamorphosis

Faculty of Science
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/0/0. 1 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
RNDr. Roman Skála, Ph.D. (lecturer), prof. RNDr. Milan Novák, CSc. (deputy)
prof. RNDr. Milan Novák, CSc. (alternate examiner)
Guaranteed by
RNDr. Roman Skála, Ph.D.
Department of Geological Sciences – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: Ing. Jana Pechmannová
Supplier department: Department of Geological Sciences – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 38 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Lecture introduces to a problem of hypervelocity impacts of extraterrestrial bodies onto Earth. Gives classification of craters and description of their structure. Explains crater formation and interaction of rocks with a shock wave excavating the crater. Points out the consequences of extraterrestrial bodies impacts on biota both in the geologic past and today or in the future.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, student will be familiar with the following topics:
Impact hypothesis, its origin and development. Types of impact craters and basic terms. Modeling of crater formation. Asteroids and comets as craterforming bodies, their composition, velocities, and trajectories. Terrestrial impact craters and comparison to their extraterrestrial counterparts.
Energy of impacts, shock waves, Rankine-Hugoniot equation, pressures and temperatures attained under shock metamorphism conditions, differences to other geological processes.
Shock phenomena in minerals, geobarometers and thermometers used for shock metamorphism. Shock metamorphism record in rocks, impactites and their classification, characteristics and distribution in impact craters. Economic potential of impact craters.
Impact frequencies. Origin of the Moon and Early Bombardment of the Earth. Event Cretaceous/Tertiary, anomalies in geological record at the K/T boundary, distribution of K/T distal ejecta, shock metamorphism indicators in them, parent crater and possible reasons for Cretaceous biota extinction. Other boundaries where extinction is recorded, possible links to known impact structures and discrepancies in these hypotheses. Risk of impact in present, event Tunguska, Torino scale.
Syllabus
  • I. Crater types and structure;
  • II. Specific features of shock metamorphism;
  • III. Impact cratering record in rocks;
  • IV. Impact cratering as a geologic hazard.
Literature
  • Melosh, H.J. (1996) Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process (Oxford Monographs on Geology and Geophysics). Oxford University Press.
  • The Tungus event, or, The great Siberian meteorite. Edited by John Engledew. New York: Algora Pub., 2010, 166 p. ;. ISBN 9780875867823. info
  • ZEL'DOVIČ, Jakov Borisovič and Jurij Petrovič RAJZER. Physics of shock waves and high-temperature hydrodynamic phenomena. Edited by Wallace D. Hayes - Ronald F. Probstein. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2002, xxvii, 916. ISBN 0486420027. info
Teaching methods
Block teaching, dates negotiated based on discussion between students and a lecturer.
Assessment methods
Finished project + attendance to lectures.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught once in two years.
Information on the per-term frequency of the course: Bude otevřeno v jarním semestru 2023/2024.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2008 - for the purpose of the accreditation, Spring 2004, Spring 2006, Spring 2010, Spring 2012, spring 2012 - acreditation, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2020, Spring 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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